Drivers using GPS systems at Domino's Pizza UK

NOTTS, England -- Domino's Pizza UK is using global positioning systems (GPS) to boost the accuracy and timeliness of its deliveries.

According to the Nottingham Evening Post, the company's drivers have struggled to find many customers' addresses, even with updated maps.

Bernadette Eddisford, spokeswoman for Domino's UK, said the majority of late deliveries were blamed on "lost delivery drivers who have been hindered by obscured door numbers, houses with names, longer driveways, higher security gates and an ever-increasing number of new housing developments."

Now, however, the pizza chain is using the high-tech location devices -- which are accurate to within one foot -- to locate customers. The new devices rely on satellites to track the driver's location using a signal given off from specially made "trainer." This information is then converted into a map on a computer, plus, directions are read audibly into headphones worn by the drivers.

Navman manufactures the GPS units, which will be distributed over the next 12 months to Domino's shops in West Bridgford, Bulwell, Beeston, Mapperley Plains and Stapleford.

Domino's UK spokesman John Whitehead believes "it won't be long before this type of service becomes commonplace."

The company employs almost 4,500 drivers in the UK, who cover an estimated 130,000 miles a day.